Hank and Zara arrived a few minutes later to give us the list of real estate holdings they’d stolen from Veritas’s files. Once again, we gathered around the kitchen table. Mynogan had holdings in everything from downtown condos and office buildings to single-family rental homes and country clubs. We concentrated our efforts in the area Bryn and Rex had zoned in on during the scrying, and found a matching address. Mynogan owned a small, but very exclusive, bath house and spa sandwiched between Morningside and Ansley Park, two large neighborhoods north-northeast of downtown. It bordered part of Oglethorpe Park. Pricey area.
“The guy’s gotta be loaded,” Rex muttered, scanning the list.
Over the map, I studied Hank. He’d yet to look at me. His face had healed somewhat, but there were still a lot of bruises and cuts. He must’ve fought like a maniac. And he would have died if Carreg hadn’t kept his word. Despite the fact that I didn’t regret going after my family and leaving him there, the guilt lay heavy in my gut. He must have felt my gaze, because he pushed away from the table and left.
Great.
He came back with a black ITF duffel bag, plopping it onto the table and unzipping. “I got everything I could fit in the bag. Hefties, Nitro-guns, human firearms. A few tear gas grenades and additional ammo.”
“And they just let you walk out of the weapons depot?” I asked.
“No,” he answered, his voice tight. “Zara helped.”
Oh, way to go, Charlie. Why don’t you just make him admit to everyone that he needed help from a girl? I couldn’t win.
Zara fiddled with her voice modifier. Anyone who had potentially come into their path, she’d taken care of with her voice. “No one will even remember we were there,” she said.
“Impressive.” She’d broken the law to help my kid, and she deserved way more than what I’d given her, but my heart was still smarting over Hank. And as much as I wanted to like Zara, I wanted my friend back more. I hated that he’d turned to her instead of me.
“So, what now?” Bryn asked, her expression eager to begin, to win back one of our own.
I hesitated. Proud as I was, I couldn’t lose another sibling. She was all I had left. But I was also turning over a new leaf. Bryn was capable and talented. She loved Emma and had every right to fight for her, too.
“First we need to scope the location, identify how many are guarding the place. Priority number one is finding Em and getting her to safety. Then, we destroy the Bleeding Souls.” I should be having this conversation with a team of ITF agents and full agency support, not friends, strangers, and family.
“Take out those damn flowers and we cut off the ash supply,” Hank said.
“Sounds like a plan to me,” Bryn said. “So who’s going to scout the location?”
Aaron draped an arm over the back of the chair, meeting my gaze. “I believe I can help with that.”
I nodded in agreement. He was the only one among us who could blink in and out. They’d never even know he was there. He started for the door. “Be back in a few.” His form disappeared into a cloud of mist as he literally disintegrated into the closed door.
“Neat trick,” Hank said.
Rex pushed away from the table. “Who wants to order pizza?” At our look, he said, “What? We gotta eat, don’t we?”
“He’s right. DeLarano’s stays open ’til one, I’ll order something.” Bryn went to the phone.
Keeping her head low, Zara glanced from me to Hank, an apprehensive frown marring her perfect face. “I’ll just go and wash up.”
Her departure was obvious. She was leaving us alone to talk. Once it was just Hank and me, I regarded him for a long moment as he zipped the weapons bag. I had no idea what to say or how to say it, so I just went with my gut. “How are you doing?”
The muscle in his jaw jumped. “Been better. You?”
“Could say the same.” Well, at least he’d asked. That was a small step in the right direction. “Look, Hank, I’m sorry you got hurt,” I began as sincerely as I felt. “But I’m not sorry for leaving. I didn’t really have a choice, and I’d do the same damn thing again if my daughter was threatened.”
Still, he didn’t look at me. A lock of blond hair fell into his eye. He shoved it aside with a quick drag of his fingers. With only his profile to go on, I had little in the way of judging his emotions.
“Don’t worry about it.” He lifted the bag off the table.
Feeling as though I was losing him, I grabbed his arm. Hard, sapphire-blue orbs gazed down at me. His look was so guarded, angry, and betrayed. “Hank.” Why couldn’t he understand? “Why are you doing this? You would’ve done the same exact thing, and I would’ve been pissed if you hadn’t.”
He pulled his arm away. “No kidding. Just let me be for a little while, Charlie.” With that he walked away.
I sighed and braced my palm on the kitchen table, the other hand on my hip, debating whether to confront him now rather than let this divide grow any bigger.
Zara exited the bathroom as Hank sat down, his back to me. She came over, looking like she should be in a Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue rather than here in Underground helping a group of misfits go up against a Charbydon Elder. “He’s having a hard time.”
“Really.” She didn’t deserve the sarcasm, but Hank and I had been together for so long. It was always us against the world, two people who had grown to love and respect one another, willing to give our lives to protect the other. I didn’t understand. And I didn’t like being left out.
“Sirens are different,” she started, ignoring my rudeness. “He’s angry, but it’s more to do with losing his powers than anything. He knows you did the only thing you could at the time. I would have gone after my daughter, too, if someone had threatened her.”
Her words deflated my ire somewhat. “It’s just … he’s Hank. My partner.” I shook my head, unable to explain further.
“And he just lost everything that makes him who he is. It’s like you losing your ability to walk or hear. Now, to him, he is weak and of no good to anyone. At least that’s how he’s feeling. Just give him a chance to work through it. He’ll come around.”
Maybe she was right. I studied her for a long second. “I never really thanked you for helping out.”
She shrugged, tucking her sunset locks behind her ear with a small smile. “It’s nothing.”
“Breaking into Veritas wasn’t nothing. You could lose your job and be forced to return home with a criminal record.”
“If they find out. They won’t.” A spark lit her crystal-blue eyes. Sirens, especially the females, had always seemed the same to me. Haughty, full of themselves because of their beauty, and demeaning to anyone else they viewed as below them in status, birth, or looks. Maybe I’d been wrong about them, too. Like so many other things. Zara was indeed beautiful, there was no denying that, but she was giving, adventurous, and willing to sacrifice her time and safety for a cause that had nothing to do with her.
“No wonder Hank likes you,” I finally said.
She blushed. “It took him long enough. I was starting to think I’d have to wear a sign on my forehead before he’d get that I was interested.”
I laughed. “Yeah, that’s Hank for you.” Laughing felt good. But the feeling was all too brief. “You don’t have to do this, you know. It’s gonna be one hell of a fight.”
“I know.” A wide smile split her face. “Haven’t had one of those in decades. Besides, I like my home and this city. The last thing I want is for Mynogan to mess it up.”
I nodded and then sat down at the table as Zara went to join Hank on the couch.
Pizza arrived just after midnight. Anxiety curbed my appetite, but I ate a piece anyway, knowing it was better to keep up my strength. Rex acted like he was having an orgasm every time he took a bite. I wanted to tell him to give it a rest, but the guy obviously hadn’t enjoyed real food in a while. Watching him eat made my thoughts turn to Will.
Slowly, I chewed a bite of pepperoni and cheese, completely stunned that Will had turned to such a desperate outlet. He had seemed to be doing so well. But maybe I just hadn’t seen how serious his despair had become, his hopelessness at being able to make things right with me. He had destroyed our marriage, something he never really wanted to do, but had done anyway. And no amount of therapy, addiction counseling, twelve-step programs, or love could erase the past. Something I was sure he must have realized, and probably the thing that made him turn to a proverbial genie in a bottle.
I tore off a piece of crust, feeling downright pissed off. If he had just stuck with it … been patient. Who knew what might have happened.
A knock interrupted my thoughts. Bryn answered the door. Aaron had returned. I wiped my hands on a napkin and stood as he slid into the chair and rested his elbows on the table.
“Well?” Bryn was the first to prompt him.
I grabbed him a water from the fridge.
“Thanks,” he said, throwing a look at Bryn. Hank and Zara leaned over the back of the couch, waiting as Aaron drank deeply. Finally, he said, “Sign says closed for renovations. No patrons to worry about, so that’s good. Bad news is it’s heavily warded.”
“How heavily?”
“More than a Magnus can break. There are only two others like me in the city, and even if we pooled our power, it’d take at least two days to break it. This ward was made by an Elder. Most likely Mynogan. Everyone who comes and goes from the building must possess a complex key, an amulet, which allows them passage. No amulet, no passage. But, if we can get in, the odds move in our favor. I only detected two Abaddon nobles, six jinn warriors, a black mage, and a hellhound.”
“I thought hellhounds were illegal,” Zara said.
“They are. But every once in a while one gets smuggled in,” I told her, returning my attention to Aaron. “How would you break the ward, if you had to?” He’d gotten the ancient skin scroll from the House of Abaddon. Surely he knew of a way to break into Mynogan’s bath house.
A smile split his face. He knew exactly what I was thinking. “Actually, I have a plan. Simple, really. All we have to do is lure the guards through the ward and take their keys.”
Disbelieving expressions passed across everyone’s face except Aaron’s.
“Am I the only one who thinks that sounds way too easy?” Hank asked.
“There is one other thing. We must have their blood on our hands. Each amulet is made with a drop of the person’s blood. You can’t borrow someone else’s key and expect to walk through the ward. But, if you have enough of their blood on you when you make the attempt, it usually works.”
“Okay,” Rex said, “I’m not bathing in anyone’s blood. There are health risks, you know …”
“You won’t have to bathe in it,” Aaron told him. “Just enough to cover your hands should do the trick.”
Suspicion narrowed Bryn’s eyes. “How the hell do you know this stuff?”
Aaron shrugged. “It’s in my interest to know details such as these. I’d be an unworthy Magnus otherwise.”
“How do we lure them through the ward?” I asked.
“They’ll know if someone is trying to break it,” Hank said.
“Right. So Bryn and I attempt to break it, the guards will come out. Even if enough of them don’t come through the ward, one of us goes through, throws the amulet back out to the next person, they cover their hands, and so on …”
“That’ll also draw them out of the building and away from Emma. Once we’re all inside, we get rid of anyone else, find Em, and destroy the crop.” All eyes were on me, and I made sure to look at each person in the room. They all nodded. “We’ll hit them in an hour.”
We left Bryn’s apartment in two groups. Aaron transported me and Bryn to the parking deck in case Mynogan still had the black mages watching the apartment, and the others would meet us at the car.
When my weight returned to normal, I helped Bryn adjust the spare shoulder holster I’d hooked around her back earlier. I made sure to equip her with a fully charged Nitro-gun and a Hefty. Gone were the floaty skirts and the charm anklets, and in their place was a grim, near mirror image of me. In fact, she looked downright kick-ass. I couldn’t help but smile.
“What?”
“Nothing,” I replied as pride blossomed through me. “It’s just … this is a new side of you.”
“Yeah, well, you’re not the only Madigan who can do damage.” She fixed me with a stern expression and even sterner voice. “I know you think I’m weak and flighty, Charlie, but I’ve got strengths you don’t even know about.”
I blinked. “I never said—”
“You don’t need to say it. I see it in your eyes all the time. Every time you come into my shop.”
“No, I’ve never thought you weak, Bryn. Ever.” How could she think that? “Sure, maybe a tad ‘out there,’ but weak?” Before she could sidestep me, I grabbed both of her shoulders and pulled her away from Aaron and the car. “Listen to me,” I said, angry that she’d even accuse me of what she had. “You’re not weak. You never have been. You know how much courage it takes to be your own person, to embrace your gifts and move forward? If anyone’s weak, it’s me. I’ve been too afraid to even explore what’s inside me. And the only reason I’m doing it now is because I have to.” I released her shoulders, shaking my head and wondering how I’d given her this impression. God. I’d screwed up with so many people in my life.
Bryn stared at me openmouthed for a split second and then composed herself. The striking woman in front of me suddenly became the small kid who used to follow me and Connor around, begging to join in and threatening us if we didn’t let her.
I shrugged. “I love you, Bryn. You’re my baby sister.” What else could I say?
Before I could react, she threw her arms around my neck, sending me back several feet before I regained my balance. “I love you, too, Charlie.” She leaned back and her smile blinded me. “Now, let’s go kick some alien butt.”
I laughed. That was the first time she’d ever called them aliens, an echo of the many times I’d used that term despite the fact she didn’t like it.
“Aliens, huh?” Hank said, walking up behind us with Zara and Rex. A faint smile lingered at one corner of his mouth. “I thought you were more PC than that, Bryn.”
“Well, by definition, you fit,” she muttered uncomfortably, red creeping into her cheeks. “Beings from another world, and all …”
“I think Charlie’s starting to rub off on you.”
“Eh, not such a bad thing in my book,” she said with a wink thrown my way, “See you guys there.” She went to stand next to Aaron. He grabbed her hand and they blinked out of sight.
Rex and Zara piled into the backseat of the car as Hank put the duffel bag into the trunk.
I went to stand next to him, needing this moment alone. “You know once we do this, there’s no turning back.” I was pretty sure my fiasco with the jinn in Underground had already sealed my fate as an ex-ITF agent, but Hank … If he joined me on this, he’d lose his job and be brought up on charges right along with me, and the list was going to be a mile long by the time we were through.
“I know,” he said. “I’m not about to leave you now.” He shut the trunk and the fixed me with a determined look. “Ready, kiddo?”
A relieved breath flowed from my lips and my shoulders relaxed. I would have done this on my own, but having Hank and the others with me gave me a much-needed boost of strength and confidence.
We rode in silence to Oglethorpe Park. No one had to speak. We all knew what was at stake.
We parked in the public lot on the opposite side of the bath complex and then blended into the darkness of the woods, at first following the park’s paved walking trail until it wrapped around to the back side of the complex.
The air had a slight chill, the temperature and the cleansing scent of leaves and bark adding a boost of energy to our steps. A near-full moon shed light into the blackness of the woods. And through the trees, the long, rectangular bath complex came into view amid the soft orangey glow of widely spaced streetlamps. We walked single file in complete silence, viewing the back of the building. All the windows were dark, the blinds drawn down.
Finally we came to the center of the building where a large patio spread out into the lawn complete with vine-covered pergola, columns with gauzy curtains, outdoor furniture, and large fire basins. The curtains swayed ever so slightly and seemed to catch the moonlight. Clouds of steam rose from vents evenly spaced along the base of the building.
Bryn and Aaron were already in place at the edge of a small patch of trees that backed up to the walking path. We stopped, and I motioned for Aaron and Bryn to begin.
They walked to the edge of the tree line, linked hands, and closed their eyes. Slowly the air around them coalesced into a soft green mist. The hairs on my arms and legs rose as energy hummed around them. While their hands were linked in the center, their free hands began moving as though part of one being, unraveling the ward.
A low growl split the silence. Hank, Zara, Rex, and I immediately dropped to our haunches. Hank’s hand shot out to keep us still as he moved forward, getting a better view between the tall pines. Seconds later, he moved back and whispered, “Hellhound.”
I looked at Rex. “You’re up.”
“I should be on Broadway right now,” he muttered. “Instead I’m here in the Blair Witch forest, about to get eaten by a hairless fucking dog on gigantic fucking steroids. Why can’t Zara do it?”
“Because my voice only works on the animals of this world and Elysia, not Charbydon.”
His eyes rolled as though he figured that was what she’d say, and then he let out a resigned sigh. “For the record, let it be noted that I hate you all.”
I shoved him toward the trees. He swatted at me, but crawled slowly and halfheartedly into the darkness, hesitating for a moment to shoot a dark glower back at us before blending into the trees. I didn’t like the fact that a Revenant was living in Will’s body, but, in that moment, I formed a soft spot for Rex. He wasn’t just doing this to fulfill a contractual obligation. I’d seen his face after we contacted Emma. He was doing this for her.
“Here, doggie, doggie …” a faint whisper came back to us.
Another growl sounded, followed by a soft whistle from Rex and then silence.
Chain links echoed fast over the stone patio. I was about to curse our luck that the hound was chained, but then there was a loud snap.
Rex darted through the trees at full speed, arms pumping. “I hate you guys!” He leapt over the azaleas by the path and disappeared into the woods on the other side just as the hellhound bounded across the pavement hot on his heels. We ducked, but the tiger-sized, hairless beast didn’t even notice. Its red eyes and slobbering jaws were fixed solely on Rex.
Floodlights lit the patio.
We took up positions on either side of our mages, hiding in the darkness and waiting to pounce.
Through the trees, three jinn warriors in parkas and a black mage appeared, filing through the massive French doors and onto the stone patio. Even from this distance I could see their eyes glowing violet. They didn’t need sunglasses at night, but they did need the coats. And hopefully the chill would slow them down. One of them leaned down and grabbed the broken chain.
“Brimstone is loose again.”
“Fucking great. That means another body to dispose of.”
As if on cue, a far-off high-pitched scream echoed through the night.
“I’ll go check the disturbance on the ward,” the black mage said. “If it’s those damn amateur kids again thinking they can break the ward, I’m going to kill them.”
As the mage stomped across the lawn, the jinn argued over who would go after the hellhound. I glanced over at Hank. We waited, knowing once they separated, taking them down would be easier.
Hank and Zara moved further down the path to intercept the jinn recruited to go after the hound. They could use his amulet to get through, while I stayed put to take down the mage.
He never knew what hit him.
His focus was solely on Aaron and Bryn as he stepped through the ward’s boundary. Just before he called upon his power to knock them out of their trance, I zapped him with my Hefty.
That left two on the patio. After nudging Bryn to bring her and Aaron back to reality, I stood over the mage’s body, reluctant to cut him open. But, all I had to do was think of Emma and I was down on my knees, pulling his sleeve up and slicing his arm with my boot knife. His blood oozed warm from his body, creating a puff of steam in the chilly air. I placed my hands in the trail, wetting them on both sides and scooping some up to rub between my fingers, around my wrists, and up my forearms. Probably should have removed the amulet first, I thought as I dripped blood all over his face trying to remove it from his neck.
When I stood, Bryn and Aaron approached. “Well, here goes nothing,” I said, holding up the amulet in my slick red hand.
They dragged the mage closer to the perimeter of the ward as I hesitated at the edge of the lawn. I turned to them, squeezing the carved amulet in my hand. “As soon as I enter, I’ll toss this back to you and then take out those two.” I motioned toward the remaining two guards standing on the patio. “Make sure you get enough blood on your hands.”
Bryn took a deep breath and nodded.
Maybe I should have smeared more blood on me, I thought, right before I drew in a deep breath and stepped onto the bright lawn. A painful tingle of energy passed over me, and then I was through. Quickly, I tossed the amulet back through the ward and pulled my Nitro-gun, only having a few seconds before the two guards noticed me.
I focused, straightened, then marched purposefully over the grass, the gun held behind my thigh.
The move startled the jinn into what I knew would only be a small window of surprise. But that was all I needed. As I walked toward them, I said, “Your hound is loose,” and then I whipped my gun in front of me and shot twice, once to the left and once to the right. The gun went off silently, the setting on lethal. They dropped with the confused expressions still on their faces.
My pulse pounded, adrenaline rushing through my system and putting me back into my element, doing what I did best. All my years of training had prepared me for this.
Aaron and Bryn ran across the sod and joined me, their hands as bloody as mine.
“Jesus, Charlie,” Bryn breathed, eyeing the dead jinn. “I can’t believe you just walked right up to them like that.”
We all took a moment to wipe the blood from our hands. “Yeah, well,” I echoed her words from earlier, “I have strengths you don’t even know about, too.”
“The jinn would call those grômms,” Aaron said frankly.
True.
I moved toward the French doors and peered around the frame. “It’s the main bath. There are three jinn inside, to your left.”
I turned to Aaron. “Detect any sign of the two nobles?”
“Underground. That’s all I’m getting.”
Hank and Zara ran onto the patio and took cover against the wall. I motioned about the three inside. “Zara and I can handle the three,” Hank said. “The rest of you go underground. Those two nobles should be close to Emma. Once you take them out, she’s ours.”
“Bryn, Aaron, once that happens, get her out of here. The rest of us will destroy the Bleeding Souls.” I took a deep breath. “Everyone ready?”
We ducked inside, Hank and Zara going left and the rest of us heading right around the thick palms and heavy curtains. If we stayed low we should be able to make it down the length of the large pool and to the main entrance.
“What’s the stupid hound done this time?” a jinn voice called from the other side of the pool, thinking the footsteps he was hearing were his brethren returning.
We were almost to the main entrance when chairs scraped over tile. Shots rang out, the guards equipped with human firearms. A piece of the stone wall erupted a few feet behind us and rained pieces down on the tile. I heard the whine of a Nitro-gun. And then a voice, splitting my eardrums, a singular tone, like the blare of a trumpet that shook anything that wasn’t bolted down.
Once we made it into the lobby, we straightened and split up, me going down the left hall and Aaron and Bryn taking the right. Every room was empty and dark. I ran back as Bryn met me in the lobby, out of breath. “It’s this way,” she said.
We raced to a door marked boiler room. I took lead, easing down the steel stairwell, feeling as though each step brought me closer to hell; the heat was intense. One flight down, the stairs ended at another door.
Locked.
Aaron stepped forward, weaved his hands over the lock, and it released. Neat trick. Carefully, we entered a short hallway that opened up into a vast area of large boilers that supplied endless hot water to the baths above. Steam shot out of release valves, adding intense humidity to the air.
We weaved our way through the labyrinth of pipes, boilers, and controls.
I held up my hand as the area opened up into a control center. An Abaddon female sat behind the counter with her feet propped up, reading a magazine. Behind the control station was a pass-through with a downward ramp.
Aaron motioned toward the ramp. I would go on ahead. He and Zara would take care of the female. I nodded and leaned back to let them pass. They had to completely engage her before I ran for the ramp. The last thing I wanted was for her to call for help.
Both mages dipped their chins. The air stirred around them. A fierce emerald glow lit Aaron’s eyes. The gold flecks in Bryn’s irises turned to fire. It was a beautiful, yet scary, sight to see the power gathering within them. I eased backward, taking another direction to the ramp.
The Abaddon shot to her feet, sensing our presence. I hesitated, worried about my sister. No. Bryn could take care of herself. I had to move.
As I positioned myself at the end of a massive pipe, I checked the all clear, just catching a glimpse of Aaron appearing behind the Abaddon as Bryn lifted her hands straight over her head and then brought them down with a circle motion. A shimmering green circle shot toward the Abaddon.
I darted across the empty space, through the pass-through, and then slammed my back against the earthen wall. A door slammed from somewhere below. I couldn’t see what lay below me, so I stuck to the wall and inched my way down the ramp and soon found myself staring at a long chamber, two stories high, with beam-supported earthen walls and a floor of soil and large rocks. Condensation dripped from the ceiling of the cavern. Patches of Bleeding Souls grew from the spaces where the rocks met the soil. There was no artificial light here. None was needed. A soft moonlit glow from the flowers lit the cavernous chamber, and the area was saturated with the scent of honeysuckle and dirt. I swallowed hard, trying not to gag.
Tools lined a portion of one wall, and carts had been placed neatly in a line along one edge of the field.
With a deep breath, I hurried down the chamber, my footsteps completely muted by the dirt. Further in now, the far wall came into view. It rose high enough so that there were open rooms on the ground level, probably for the harvesters, and then a line of rooms over those, with windows that overlooked the field.
A light appeared in the second-story window. I heard footsteps above as I quickly found the stairs leading to the second floor.
The landing was empty. I moved down the hall to check the first closed door. No sooner had I reached for the doorknob than I was thrown forward into the door. Pain flowed through my face as it smacked the wall. The Nitro-gun dropped from my hand.
Before I could recover, I was moved again by an invisible force, this time flying backward and straight through the drywall, between the studs, scraping bloody trails down my arms and shoulders and seriously bruising my hips, and then through another wall.
The breath got knocked out of me again when I landed in a cloudy heap of dust and debris inside a room.
Something had pulled me through.
Correction. Two somethings. So much for there only being one Abaddon down here. As the dust settled, my vision cleared. Two Abaddon females stood in front of me, one with long, straight black hair, thigh-high leather boots, and a tight black mini dress, and the other whose black hair was pulled into a bun so tight it pulled on the corners of her eyes. But her taste in clothes, black slacks and a white T-shirt, was far more subdued.
I pushed to my feet, using my hands to brush off my jeans. “So which one of you bitches grabbed my kid?”
Bunhead smirked. “That would be me,” she said in a thick accent that reminded me of Romanian or Russian.
“Good to know,” I said, right before punching the other one in the jaw, catching her off guard. She went down hard as I went to draw the second Nitro-gun from the back of my jeans.
Bunhead smirked again and raised her hands, shoving me back into the wall without even touching me, without giving me a chance to grab my gun. An invisible hand closed around my throat. I couldn’t even gasp for air. Pressure built in my head and face. Legs and arms flailing, I fumbled for my human firearm on my hip, relief washing over me as my hand slid around the cool metal handle.
My finger flipped the safety on my gun. I let off four rounds into her stomach. She flew back, but I knew it would be temporary. Bullets did not kill beings from Charbydon. Released from her vicious hold, I dragged in large drafts of precious air, my lungs burning.
I was hit from behind by Mini. She flipped me over with a thought and then blasted my mind with horrors.
A scream tore from my bruised throat. Searing heat engulfed my brain as I grabbed my head with both hands. Nightmares ripped through my mind and stole my breath. Flashes of death, torture, blood. Me. Emma. The fear on her face. The hurt. No! No! No! My mind was being torn apart by them. Tears closed my throat. So real. It felt so real.
But the shock wore off and the sickening images began to bring out my sense of justice.
God, this was low, even for an Abaddon bitch.
She was trying to incapacitate me with horrors of my daughter. Big-ass mistake.
The anger of it allowed me to fight back. I remembered my power. I was Abaddon, too. What she could do, theoretically I could do.
I sat up, eye to eye with her, and grabbed her face, sending my anger, and with it my power, through my arm and into my hand. I gave her a nightmare all Charbydons feared. Cold. Snow. She was trapped in it. Ice crept up her legs, freezing and cracking flesh, so cold it burned her. I poured it into her. All that I had. And up it went until it covered her face and chilled my own hand.
I let go.
Jesus.
I scrambled back. My back hit the wall, and my breathing was labored and loud in the sudden quiet.
She was frozen solid.
Abaddons could give nightmares that left the mind wounded beyond repair, but as far as I knew they couldn’t make them real. I blinked and glanced down at the hand that had caused such unbelievable damage, my hand, right before Bunhead lifted me off the floor and sent me flying into the window.
Shit.
Two seconds later, the flesh peeled from the bone of my elbow as glass met skin. Then I was falling, a brief feeling of weightlessness before I slammed into the soft dirt below.